It could be argued, rightly or wrongly, that the internet and modern online culture has destroyed the idea of just enjoying your hobby. If you dive yourself into the cesspit of social media, often liking something or enjoying something puts you on one end of the culture war. No longer can people like something, instead you have to make it part of your personality, or defend it against any and all accusations. It’s a difficult and stressful time if you care about such things.
So it is nice when shows like this come out and fully embrace just loving what you love, regardless of any implications or inferences. After the cut, let’s take re-dive into the series Knights & Magic.
My initial post can be found right here!
Knights at its core is a mixture of two different genres. On one side it is an Isekai, where it follows a former salaryman Tsubasa Kurata reborn into the young Ernesti Echavalier. Blessed with those classic god-mode like Isekai powers, we see Ernesti as he embraces his dream to be a Silhouette Knight pilot, fulfilling his dream of creating his own mecha. Which brings us to the second genre: a full on mecha show with robots fighting, flying, and just all that usual mecha stuff.
It’s a great blending of two genres and once again shows the strength and versality of the isekai genre. Many have levied criticism, some justified, at the Isekai anime for being too samey, for dealing with the same story of some Kirito-looking everyman getting god-like powers and a harem of pretty girls. And while some of that is true, it is also true that the Isekai genre has also done much to remove itself from just that type of story. I’ll discuss this in a later post, but things like Reverse-Isekai, Female-Led Isekai, and Everyday Job Isekai have become more and more popular and have done wonders to help flesh out the genre. Knights was one of the first to do this, and by combining these two genres, it helps elevate what could be another run of the mill show into something special.
And that specialness is what really makes Knights so good. Ernesti’s full on love of mechs. Building them, piloting them, and just being around them is earnest (heh) to the point of infectious. This is a man who loves what he does, and wants to do nothing but surrender himself to his hobby and bring everyone along for the ride. Even if you can lay the idea that Ernesti’s genius is unleashing a level of destruction and war to this world that they’ve never seen. The show does not focus on that, and instead wants you to know how fucking awesome it is to build mechs, pilot mechs and just do anything with mechs. That world building and imagination is plastered all over the screen and it was great to see Knights approach their mechs in a unique and fun way. High fantasy often doesn’t clash well with mechs, but this show does it well with cool ideas and concepts that you normally wouldn’t see in a show like this.
Knights & Magic is a simple show, a tune-in, tune-out series that doesn’t overload you with story or drama, but remains entertaining throughout. It is a love letter not only to the mecha genre, but to anyone who has ever loved any sort of hobby before. There is no cynicism or attempts to be ‘deep’ or ‘meaningful.’ but a full throated embrace of loving what you love and sharing that love with the world. That innocent and earnest love is what makes this show so fucking fun to watch and a nice breath of fresh air in a world that often tries to make loving something more than what it should be. If you like mechs, isekai or both, give this show a look. You might just find it is the pick-me up palette cleanser you are looking for.
Shallow Dives in Anime 